Jabez

A shadow beneath the rippling surface of Quail Creek caught the eye of James Gracie."There he is!" he exclaimed, wading knee-deep into a chilly pool overhung by a tree branch. A moment later, a small brook trout darted downstream.The fish is a harbinger of new life in this narrow creek, which meanders through a sylvan patch of northern Baltimore County on its way to Gunpowder Falls. It also may be a glimmer of hope for some of the 5,000 miles of brooks, streams and rivers throughout Maryland that are barren of fish, or nearly so.Three years ago, Quail Creek's headwaters were smothered under 120 tons of mud when an earthen dam built across the stream by a housing developer gave way. The silt filled in pools and riffles where trout had fed and spawned, and it triggered large-scale erosion of the stream's banks.

Think small and cheap, a county planner told the Severn River Commission Thursday.The government-appointed advisory panel has recommended that the county Department of Planning and Zoning examine extensively the land-use practices and policies on the 23-mile scenic river.But Joseph Elbrich, chief of environmental and special project planning, estimated the cost of such a comprehensive study at $500,000 to $1 million."With this year's economy, that's not a realistic expectation," he said.Additionally, Elbrich said the Governor's Commission on Growth in the Chesapeake Bay Region has proposed legislation -- aimed at directing new development to established growth areas -- that would require each county to do massive planning studies by 1993.

An ailing pond received a dose of medicine yesterday when highway workers sprayed it with lime.The state Department of Natural Resources diagnosed a 4-year-old sediment pond in Gambrills as highly acidic last year.The State Highway Administration had wanted to drain the pond, known as Lake Median, into Jabez Branch, a highly sensitive tributary of the Severn River.But SHA officials canceled their plans after DNR biologists said the pond's 3 million gallons, located between the northbound and southbound lanes of Route 3, had the acidity of lemon juice.

Man, 26, identified as homicide victim Anne Arundel County police have released the identity of a man found shot to death this week in Severn. The shooting was the first homicide this year in the county outside Annapolis. Jonathan Nathaniel Proctor, 26, whose last known address was in the 8200 block of Coates Bridge Court in Severn, was found in the 1800 block of Long Leaf Way about 7 a.m. Monday. Police said someone walking in the area saw Proctor's body lying in a grassy common area separating two rows of townhouses.

County Councilman David G. Boschert is backing down on plans to sponsor legislation prohibiting state Program Open Space money from being used to build ball fields and other recreational projects.Instead, he will introduce a resolution encouraging County Executive Robert R. Neall to place more emphasis on the acquisition of open land."This puts the county executive on notice that we're interested in land acquisition over development, but it does not tie his hands to the point where he's obligated to acquire land and not develop.

Gambrills Horse park plan finally released Establishing a horse park in western Anne Arundel County would cost $114.2 million, according to a long-awaited study released Thursday that state officials hope will boost support for the stalled project. The report by the Maryland Stadium Authority found that the horse park on 857 acres of rolling farmland in Gambrills, owned by the Navy, will draw nearly 800,000 visitors each year, generating an annual economic benefit to the county of more than $104 million.

WASHINGTON - For 88 years, a gray marble statue of George Glick stood tall in the U.S. Capitol with the likes of George Washington, Andrew Jackson and Robert E. Lee. Pretty good company for an 1880s, one-term governor of Kansas - too good to last. Glick will make dubious history next January when he becomes the first personage ever to be removed from the Capitol's storied National Statuary Hall collection, started in 1864 to let each state honor two of its own. A bronze statue of Dwight D. Eisenhower, a slightly more famous Kansan, will take Glick's place.

Editor's Note: Today Jerdine Nolen shows you the hidden benefits of word games. People love to have fun with each other. A regular dose of laughter is healthy for the psyche and the soul. Some forms of entertainment can help with language development. Besides being fun, word games and riddles help increase vocabulary and verbal fluency -- and they can be carried along on long driving trips. Riddles can be based on themes like sports (baseball and football are popular choices in these parts)

More on Light RailRegarding your rather peevish reaction expressed in your editorial of May 18 to the complaints in the Linthicum/Shipley community over the increase in crime accompanying the light rail line, let me see if I have this correct: We shouldn't ban the light rail because of the criminal actions of a few miscreants, but we should ban guns?Perhaps The Sun should sponsor the establishment of the National Light Rail Association (NLRA), the mantra of which would be "Light Rail doesn't cause crime, criminals cause crime" and "When Light Rail is outlawed, only outlaws will have light rail."

The desk Bryan Loane sits at belonged to his father. His file cabinet, to his grandfather. But the company he heads, Loane Bros. Inc., is rooted much further back in his genealogy -- and Baltimore's history.The family business, now a $3 million-a-year party tent rental and canvas awning company, started out in 1815 as a sail maker's loft on Bowley's Wharf at the Inner Harbor.In the 184 years since Bryan's great-great-great-grandfather, Joseph Loane, began producing canvas sails, the company has survived by adjusting and refocusing, abandoning the production of sails, shifting to canvas awnings and, later, party tents.